Michael Jackson Billboard awards hologram halted by lawsuit?

Michael Jackson may not perform at this weekend's Billboard Music Awards after all.

Well ... I know that. I meant the hologram.

That's right -- hologram Michael Jackson was going to perform on Sunday's show, but a lawsuit filed by Alki David, who said he owns the rights to the technology, could put a stop to that.

David filed a lawsuit late Thursday against the Michael Jackson Estate, MJ's production company and Dick Clark Productions, to stop them from showing the hologram supposedly using David's technology, according to TMZ.

The lawsuit says a life-size, projected 3D image of Michael will showcase a never-before-released Jackson song, "Slave to the Rhythm."

Michael Jackson waves as he arrives at the Santa Barbara County courthouse on June 3, 2005, in Santa Maria, California. (Timothy A. Glary/AFP/Getty Images)

This just in -- Jermaine Jackson has announced he and his brothers will immediately take the hologram on a multimillion dollar stadium tour.

He may have to wait. The Jackson hologram would likely be similar to the Tupac Shakur hologram at the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which David claims was based on the same technology.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West should see if that hologram is available to officiate their wedding.

Anyway, David says if Billboard goes ahead with the MJ performance Sunday, it will ruin ... wait for it ... HIS plans for a similar high-profile holographic Jackson performance.

Advertisement

Howard Weitzman, the lawyer for Jackson's estate, told TMZ, "This is another Alki David stunt, no different than his claiming that Brandon Howard was Michael Jackson's son. It is ludicrous ... and the show goes on."